One year ago, Stacy Lewis was named the 2023 U.S. Solheim Cup captain. This week, she will have her captaincy extended by an additional year.
Lewis, 37, will be named the 2024 U.S. Solheim Cup captain early next week, GOLF.com has learned. She will join World Golf Hall of Famer members Judy Rankin, Juli Inkster, Kathy Whitworth and Patty Sheehan as the fifth woman to captain Team USA multiple times.
“This is such an amazing honor, to be asked to again captain the U.S. Solheim Cup Team,” Lewis said. “Receiving the first call was one of the highest points of my career, and I am truly grateful to add this second opportunity.”
The 13-time LPGA Tour winner has appeared in the biennial team competition four times as a player (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) and has twice served as an assistant captain (2019, 2021). Now, she’ll captain the American side in two consecutive years.
Lewis will make her debut as captain this September as the Americans take on Team Europe at Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain. And with the Solheim Cup moving to even years in 2024, she’ll again captain Team USA 12 months later at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va.
“To do one in Europe and do one in the U.S., I think that’s going to be the coolest part about it,” Lewis said. “Being right outside [Washington] D.C., basically right outside our nation’s capital and all we can do with that — hopefully we can make it the biggest Solheim Cup we’ve ever had.”
At the age of 38 when the competition begins this fall, Lewis will be the youngest American captain in Solheim Cup history — and she believes that youthfulness will be advantageous for her squad.
“I know these girls so well,” Lewis said. “I know their personalities. I know their games. I’m friends with a lot of them and have good relationships with them, so I think that trust is there. If I had been a little bit more removed and maybe not around as much, the buy-in might be a little bit harder. But knowing the girls I think is the biggest advantage I have.”
The ability to earn that buy-in from players will be crucial for Lewis as she tries to end Team USA’s drought in the Solheim Cup. Team Europe has won the last two iterations of the event, and has won in four of the last six meetings with the Americans.
“It’s all about the buy-in,” Lewis said. “When you can put a ‘why’ behind it, you get a lot more buy-in.”
Lewis has already earned the buy-in of those who’ve now entrusted her with two shots at the captaincy. And if she can earn that same buy-in from the players, she might just be the person to lead the Americans back to Solheim Cup glory.
